AMS-LaTeX

Prerequisites

A current working LaTeX system, dated December 2000 or laterLaTeX is not an AMS product. See the LaTeX Project home page for information if you do not already have LaTeX.

Download AMS-LaTeX

Important note: If you are working on a system based on a TeX Live (or MiKTeX or MacTeX) distribution later than 2005, AMS-LaTeX will be included as part of the LaTeX "required" collection, and you should not have to download or install it separately.

There are two components to AMS-LaTeX: the document classes, and amsmath. They can be obtained separately if needed.

The amscls archive will unpack into an existing TEXMF structure, in most cases providing a ready-to-use installation. However, the recommended method for upgrading is to upgrade the entire TeX Live installation.

In 2016, LuaTeX version 1 was released, and attempts to use amsmath with LuaLaTeX would fail. To address this problem most effectively, responsibility for maintenance of amsmath was transferred to the LaTeX Project, and the authoritative version of amsmath is now on CTAN and in TeX Live.

What is AMS-LaTeX?

The name "AMS-LaTeX" is used to mean "LaTeX with AMS extensions". The AMS-LaTeX extensions are included in the standard LaTeX distribution, and are also present on CTAN.

The amsmath part is an extension package for LaTeX that provides various features to facilitate writing math formulas and to improve the typographical quality of their output.

The amscls part contains AMS "document class" files (amsart, amsbook and amsproc.cls) and a theorem package (amsthm.sty) that can be used independently. These provide the setup necessary to give a LaTeX document the general structure and appearance of an AMS article or book.

Related AMS packages

Details of these packages can be found on the linked pages. They are also available from CTAN and included in TeX Live.

amsfonts is a collection of fonts that extends the Computer Modern family with additional symbols and alphabets intended for use in mathematical contexts. Full LaTeX support is provided by the included amssymb and several script-specific packages.

amsrefs is an extension package for LaTeX that supports the organization and formatting of bibliographic information directly within a document.

Documentation for AMS-LaTeX

To view documentation for a package in an installation based on TeX Live, the easiest way is to type this at a command-line prompt:texdoc -l package name
The desired item can be selected from the offered list.
If texdoc is not installed on your system, or the documentation component of TeX Live has been omitted, a documentation item can be viewed via TeXdoc Online.

Additional Documentation

Except for the Short Math Guide, the files listed below are included in the amsmath or amscls distribution, and should be on your system, unless documentation files were excluded from the installation.

This material is best understood when the source and output are examined side by side.

Short Math Guide for LaTeX
This guide is a concise summary of the essential features in LaTeX for writing math formulas, including features provided by the packages amssymb and amsmath. This is not a mere listing of everything available but a careful selection of the LaTeX commands that are especially recommended for authors' use. There is also some discussion of certain common uses and misuses of various commands that are better avoided for reasons of typographical quality or logical markup.

Auxiliary Packages

amsmidx.sty -- Package for use with document classes based on amsbook.cls to produce multiple indexes. Instructions are in the file amsmidx.pdf.
The package imakeidx is an approved alternative to amsmidx.

amsbooka.sty -- Package for use with document classes based on amsbook.cls for books that contain chapters written by individual authors. This package will properly format tables of contents as well as the chapter headings. Instructions are in the AMS Author FAQ.